Only In Name
by BlackFox12
Summary: Timmy and Russell are married, but despite what Russell secretly wants, it's a marriage only in name. Can Russell prove to Timmy that he's trying to change? Can Timmy believe that Russell is only interested in one person now - him? Contains slash and spanking. Don't like? Don't read


**Only In Name**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the television series Rules of Engagement and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Summary:** Timmy and Russell are married, but despite what Russell secretly wants, it's a marriage only in name. Can Russell prove to Timmy that he's trying to change? Can Timmy believe that Russell is only interested in one person now - him?

**Warning(s):** Spanking; spoilers for the whole of the series of Rules of Engagement; probable AU; maybe some OOC:ness

**Pairing:** Russell/Timmy - slash

**Author's Note:** After 1st January, I have to get to work on some of my original fiction. I might be able to write another story after this one between now and then, but... we'll see. Anyway, hope you enjoy - this isn't a usual fandom I write in

* * *

Timmy wasn't really sure why he'd agreed to move in with Russell. During the other man's short marriage to Liz, they hadn't moved in together - and this wasn't a marriage based on anything physical. All it was about was Russell feeling guilty - a feeling Timmy had long since suspected was completely alien to the other man - and doing something extreme to make himself feel better.

That wasn't a strange situation at all. Neither was Timmy getting caught up in one of Russell's mad schemes.

One of the good things that came from this marriage was the fact that Timmy could continue with the new job he'd been hired to do. Of course, the point of getting the new job was to escape from Russell. Timmy had no doubt that he'd be dragged into more of Russell's schemes now that they were officially living together.

Timmy had woken up before his alarm and he slowly realised that there was a burning stench that had filled the apartment. Wondering what Russell was up to this time, Timmy got out of bed and dressed quickly before heading out of his bedroom and following the smell through to the kitchen, where he found Russell standing in front of the cooker.

"Good morning, Timmy!" Russell said cheerfully. "I was just making breakfast."

"I don't think that qualifies as breakfast." Timmy looked at the burnt pans and shook his head. He suspected they weren't going to be salvageable and he was sure he'd be the one finding new ones - and making sure Russell didn't damage those, too. "You've never cooked before, have you?"

"I've cooked!" Russell protested.

"Heating something up doesn't count."

"Oh." Russell looked downcast, but only for a moment, before he perked up again. "Let's go to the diner, then."

Timmy sighed. "Whatever you say, sir."

A strange look passed over Russell's face, but it was gone before Timmy could identify what it was. "You can stop calling me sir, you know."

That had occurred to Timmy, but he'd been working for Russell for so long - or it felt like so long, anyway - that he wasn't sure dropping the 'sir' would be that easy. Instead, he merely asked, "Would you prefer to go to the diner?" Timmy suspected that the others - Adam and Jennifer; Jeff and Audrey - wouldn't be there, but it wouldn't be the first time he and Russell had been in the diner alone.

Russell looked at the pans. "I _wanted_ to make breakfast."

"You could always try another morning," Timmy suggested, before asking, "Why is it so important that you make breakfast?"

"I wanted to do something nice for you."

Timmy actually wasn't sure what to say to that. It didn't matter that Russell was trying to do nice things for him. After the way Russell had treated him since Timmy had first started working for him, Timmy didn't think anything could make up for that. But he was reluctant to say that to Russell. He could imagine how the other man would react to that - and for some reason, he didn't want to upset Russell. "You've made it possible for me to stay in this country," he said after a moment.

"Yeah, that was the only reason I asked you to marry me."

"I know."

Russell turned away and began idly scraping at the burnt bits in the pan. "So what happens now?"

Timmy frowned. "I don't know what you mean."

"Well, things are different now. Right?"

"I don't see how. I suspect you'll still insist I come along to help you 'score with women'." Timmy paused to think about that. "No, wait. I'm sure you'll use the fact that we're married to pick up even more women."

Russell hesitated before speaking. "I don't want to pick up girls."

"Are you feeling ill?" Timmy asked, unable to fully hide his concern.

"I'm not ill. I just don't want..." Russell stopped. "I'm not interested in women anymore. There's only one person I'm interested in, Timmy."

"Sir..."

"You understand what I'm saying, right?"

"You aren't interested in me, sir..."

"_Russell_."

"Russell." Timmy grimaced at how strange the name sounded when he said it, but pushed on. "I've seen how you act when you're interested in someone. You aren't interested in me. I imagine you're just confused because you did something nice without getting anything in return."

"Look, I know I haven't treated you well... at all." Russell took a deep breath. "There's nothing I can do to make up for all of that. I asked Adam and Jeff... I couldn't really hear their advice over the amount of comments they made."

"You asked them for advice about me?"

"I _tried_ asking them for advice," Russell muttered. "But they weren't really much help. And then I spoke to Jennifer. Did you know she wears the pants in that relationship? In more ways than one?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

"They have a certain... aspect to their relationship."

"I still don't understand what you mean."

"Well, apparently some couples have what's called a discipline relationship," Russell said. "When one of them messes up, they get punished for it."

"I don't think I've 'messed up', as you put it," Timmy said.

"I wasn't referring to you."

"Oh." Timmy frowned. "But we're not in a relationship." Apart from being married, but Timmy didn't think that counted.

"What if I'd still like to be?"

"I think this is still new and different for you," Timmy said. "This is not the time to have this conversation."

"Then when is?"

Timmy wanted to say 'never', but he paused to think about it. "If you still think you're interested, we'll talk about it in two weeks' time," he said, not wanting to get Russell's hopes up, but thinking that that would give him a bit of time to think about what he wanted as well.

"Two weeks?"

Timmy nodded. "Two weeks."

"All right - but I'm not going to change my mind." Russell hesitated before asking, "So... diner?"

"We can go to the diner," Timmy replied.

* * *

"It's been two weeks."

Timmy looked up at Russell, honestly surprised that the other man was bringing this up. The past two weeks had been fairly uneventful and Timmy had assumed that Russell had either forgotten about this conversation or had changed his mind and gone onto something else, as he tended to do. "What do you want me to say?" he asked.

Russell sat on the couch next to Timmy. "Did you even think about this at all?"

"Did you?" Timmy asked. "I'm not going to be some kind of experiment for you."

Russell looked hurt for a moment, before that expression was quickly chased from his face. "Okay, so maybe I deserved that. But for once, I'm serious about this. I mean, it took me a long time to accept that I... have these feelings for you. You aren't working for me anymore. There's not really an imbalance of power."

"Do you really think that's what concerns me?"

"That's why I talked to Jen."

Timmy shook his head. "I don't even know what you mean by a punishment."

"Well, according to Jen, most couples use spanking," Russell replied.

"I'm not going to be party to your kinky sex games."

Russell shook his head. "It's not about kink. I did some research on it. There are a whole host of couples who use spanking as part of their relationship. Yeah, sometimes it's a sex thing - but it's also used as a punishment. And, well, maybe I deserve it. For how bad I made your life while you were working for me."

Timmy's first inclination was to say no. But if he really stopped and let himself think about it, he could tell that Russell was being serious about this. That wouldn't have been enough to make him fake being interested, but when Timmy had learned about Russell having him tagged, it had been a betrayal that had felt somehow so much worse than anything else Russell had done to him.

Despite his best efforts, this had been on Timmy's mind for the past two weeks. He still wasn't sure that Russell wouldn't change his mind suddenly, but when he sneaked a glance at the other man, Timmy could see an unusually earnest expression on Russell's face.

Timmy glanced down as Russell reached out and placed a hand on his. After a moment or two, Timmy allowed his hand to turn over and grasp Russell's.

"Is that a yes?" Russell asked hopefully.

"It's a yes to giving a relationship a try," Timmy answered. "I don't know about the other."

Russell shifted slightly. "Think of it this way - you get to pay me back for all the things I've been doing to you since you started working for me."

"I don't think this is a healthy way to start a relationship." Timmy felt himself beginning to waver, though. After everything Russell had done to him, Timmy actually liked the idea of a little bit of payback. And maybe this would get rid of any of those lingering feelings of resentment.

"You're thinking about it, aren't you?"

Timmy shook his head. "How would I even do that to you?"

"Are you kidding? That's the easiest part. Here, this might be the best way." Russell freed his hand from Timmy's and leaned forward so that he was across Timmy's lap. "Pants down or up?"

Timmy slowly placed a hand on Russell's back, surprised by how natural it felt to touch the other man. "I wouldn't want you to get any ideas, so I think they'd better stay up." He rubbed Russell's back gently for a moment or two before letting his hand move slightly lower. He knew how spanking worked, of course, but he wasn't sure what Russell was expecting of him. A few light taps? Testing, Timmy lifted a hand and brought it down - though not too hard.

Russell wriggled a bit. "You can hit me harder. I'm not going to break."

Timmy paused briefly, but then raised his hand and brought it down, snapping his wrist so that the swat landed with a crisp sound that seemed to echo through the room.

Russell jumped, but didn't make a sound.

That first swat had actually proved to be quite satisfying. Timmy repeated the swat on the other side of Russell's bottom, making the other man jerk. He moved his hand slightly lower and landed another pair of swats just below the first, continuing in that vein down to the tops of Russell's thighs.

"Ow!" Russell threw his hand back. "Not there!"

Timmy let his hand rest on Russell's thighs. "You don't want me to spank your thighs?"

"No - it hurts."

"You don't think the way you treated me hurt?" This was maybe the first time Timmy had admitted - even to himself - how everything Russell had done to him had hurt. "Do you want to start over... or not?"

Russell was silent for several long moments before he pulled his hand back in front of him. "I guess I really deserve this, huh?"

Timmy rubbed Russell's back briefly before he began swatting again, starting once more from the crest of the other man's bottom. By the time he reached Russell's thighs for the second time, the other man was shifting slightly and Timmy's hand was starting to sting.

The third circuit caused Russell's legs to jerk, as if he was trying to stop himself kicking. By the time Timmy began a fourth circuit, he could feel the heat coming off Russell's bottom - and the next lot of swats to his thighs made Russell kick and Timmy heard a soft sob escape from him.

It was harder than Timmy had first thought to force himself to continue, hearing the sound of Russell beginning to cry. The feeling of satisfaction faded and he stopped, resting his hand on Russell's back, feeling like he'd just kicked a puppy.

Russell didn't make any move to get up and just lay over Timmy's lap, though the sound of the tears quickly stopped. Timmy resumed rubbing Russell's back in slow, soothing circles. "Do you want to get up now?"

"Nah - I feel pretty comfortable like this," Russell answered. "That's it for this time, isn't it? You forgive me?"

"I forgive you," Timmy replied, surprised to realise that it was true - and even more so to realise he actually liked how close Russell was to him right now. He let his hand move lower to lightly rub the other man's backside, able to feel the heat even through Russell's trousers.

Russell groaned. "That feels good... don't stop..."

Timmy smiled. "Of course not... Russell."

**The End**


End file.
